A HOLYWELL conman has been jailed for a minimum of 25 years for murdering his partner in a Travelodge hotel room.

Glenn Rycroft, of Rhewl, near Holywell, was sentenced for the murder of father-of-three Gareth MacDonald, of Meliden at the Old Bailey last Friday.

Detective Chief Inspector Tim Grattan-Kane said: “This was certainly not a crime of passion but a pre-meditated murder. Rycroft spent a considerable amount of time on his computer, researching different methods to kill people.”

The court heard Rycroft was a prolific conman who had previously cheated friends and colleagues out of more than £200,000.

He battered Gareth MacDonald over the head with a fire extinguisher at the hotel at the M4 Heston services in September 2007.

Mr MacDonald, 30, had left his wife and children to move in with Rycroft in Rhewl, after meeting him on the internet.

But the victim had started to become suspicious of his lover after money started going missing from his bank account.

Detectives believe Rycroft had targeted MacDonald to cheat money out of him in the latest of his scams.

Detective Sergeant Nick Mason said: “Gareth MacDonald and his family had money and Glenn Rycroft obviously realised that. It was another gravy train for him.”

Rycroft, 33, originally from Salford, Greater Manchester, denied murder, claiming he planned to marry Mr MacDonald and would never harm him.

Rycroft and Mr MacDonald were staying together at the Travelodge after travelling to London to pay back thousands of pounds to Rycroft’s uncle – whom he had ripped off before.

The killer was seen on CCTV driving away from the hotel at 7am so he could pretend he was not there when the murder took place – but in fact his lover already lay dead. He returned to the room shortly afterwards before running to reception to ask for an ambulance.

Mr MacDonald married his wife, Eirlys, in January 2006.

While she was pregnant with their third daughter, in the summer of that year, he told her he was gay and had met Rycroft on the internet. He moved in with him in February 2007.

Mr MacDonald began to become suspicious about his lover emptying his bank account after his card was refused in a shop.